System for the preservation of bakery products



Feb. 3, 1925 1,524,936

' J. H. JOHNSON SYSTEM FOR THE PRESERVATION 0F BAKERY PRODUCTS FiledApril l2, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l a sig.

Feb. 3, 1925. 1,524,936

J. H. JOHNSON `SYSTEM FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BAKERY PRODUCTS FiledApril 12, 1924 2 shuts-sheet z '7V/ 75E/7a w19/59 Patented Feb. 3, 1925.

jiszias ,I

JOHN ri. JOHNSQN, or lSANTA BARBARA, cnnironmn.

-sYsTEizi 'iioit THE ritnsnnvnrion or sannita? i. i. onuc'rs.v

i concern Be it lmown thatY I,"JOHN H. JOHNSON, a

v citizen of the United IStates, residing at Santa. Barbara, in thecounty of Santa Bartirely fit products, 2o or entirely rigid as tobei'infitfor human conment and thermal values,

bara and State of California, have invented new and useful Systems for.the Preservation of Bakery Products, of which the following is aspecification.

My present invention relates to a system and apparatus for thepreservation of bakery products. It maybe understood to be an object ofthis invention to provide means and methods of maintaining or restoringthe freshness ofproducts such as bread,'biscuits, doughnuts, cakes andpastry; embodiments ofmy invention may be such as to maintain or renderSuch products ento be sold or served as even after a lapse of severalhours da ssubsequently to actual baking. If bakery products are kept ina damp place, at ordinary temperatures, it is wel known that they arelikely to sag or toughen, and they may soon become moldy. If, on theother hand, they are kept well ex? posed to the air, they soon dry out,becoming harder and harder until they become so sumption. Whetherpermitted to become tough or permitted to become hard, although notallowed to become moldy, leftover bakery products have a source ofsubstantial loss, alike to bakers, dealers, hotel men and householders 5and it is an object of this invention to'dimmish or entirely avoidabledeterioration of bakery products.. Whether or not the freshness ofbakery products is especially important from a dietetic point of view,every baker and every in which the full advantages of my invendealerknows that there is and will bea large and constant demand for freshbreads, biscuits, rolls, doughnuts, coffee cakes, gems, muiins, and thelike; and it is fan object of 'this invention to provide means whereby,

at a comparatively slight expense for eguipand with substantial sanitaryadvantages, may be kept for comparatively long periods in substantiallythe same fresh condition as when taken from an oven, thereby enablingthe dealer or lunch counter proprietor or otherpurveyor thereof alwaysand`promtly l to meet the demand for a fresh product; and

my invention, inor relying upon actual additions of preferredembodiments of stead and preferred afresh?, l

in general been l Vfrom the following description ofvalterna obviatelosses due to early and bakery products through the outer walls,

Application med April 12 1924. serial No. 706,219.

moisture or upon a mere application of heat, may comprise means formaintaining all or almost all of the original moisture content withinbakeryprodictsduring an application-of only suiicicnt heat to keep theprod.- ucts in substantially their ,original conditions. The products.of a single baking at a single bakery may thus be sold fresh at anyrequired number of near or remote points.

Neither control of moisture nor control of temperature being alonesuicient to maintain bakery `products in a satisfactory fresh condition,l discovered. the practicability of lpreserving or conditioning bakeryproducts byjkeeping the same suitably hot without causing or permittinganundue escape of moisture therefrom; this being carried out by heatingall of the walls of the food container to substantially the sametemperature thus minimizing the internal l circulation of air within thefood compartment. l The principles of my mentioned discovery may belapplied in a wide variety of different embodiments of my invention,some of which may be especially suitable for luse in retail stores,`Others being respectively more appropriate for lunch counter orhousehold use', and all being capable Lof either maintaining orrestoring the quality of bakery products.

Other objects of my invention will appear tive embodiments thereof,taken iii? connec tion with the appended claims and le accompanyingdrawings, in which" Y;

Fig. 1 is the preferred embodiinen ofmy invention, showing the use ofthe'same in combination with an electric toasterlr- Fig. 2 is a furtheralternative embodiment -tion are only partially realized, thisembodiment showin the' sameias applied to a show case having ouble wallsand doors of glass.'

Fig. 3 is a line 3-3 of Fig.'2. 'p In the preferredv form of myinvention illustrated in Fig. Y1, this being thecpm. bined toaster andreserver, the outer walls asb tos tio to prevent the -too rapid escapeof heat both `of these'elebeing shown as spaced away from 1s o ments Dthe respective devices enclosed the wal ,i horizontal section taken `onthe 36 may provi` ed throughoutfwith an lining 37, which acts Las aninsiilal'` a' therein, tO-W, a pali- 'of heaters '38, 383W] which may beprovided with any preferred type of thermostatic control, a toastingdrawer 39, and a preserving compartment 40. The toasting drawer 39 issho-wn as comprising side elements 41 and front and" back. -plates 42,43 forming a rectangular frame supporting a bottom 44 having an openmesh, the side elements 4l being shown as carried forward and Yconnectedwith a front plate 45 provided with a handle 46, the entire drawer beingadapted to slide above an apertured horizontal partition 47,

lsupported from the outer walls.

The upper heater 38 and the preserver 40 may both be supported fromintermediate horizontal reinforcing bars 48,- an asbestos baille 49being shown as interposed above the heater, and spacing strips, or theirequivalent, being interposed beneath the bottom 5l) of the preserver40,'whose side walls 5l may be integral with or connected toa frontplate 52 carrying a handle 53. To forni a tight cover for the preservercompartment 40, closing and effectively sealing the same when the draweris in the normal position indicated in Fig. l, aiixed top plate 54 maybe secured,`as by Vmeans of transverse bars 55 also extending betweenthe front and back walls 36. Although the-'n toast may ordinarily beinserted in the drawer 39 by a horizontal movement` of. the saine, I mayoptionally provide a hinge 56, pivot-ally connecting the entire uppersec,- Iion comprising the heater 38 and the preserver 40 relatively to alower xed section shown as mounted upon legs 57. As in the alternativeorganization intended for cafe-- teria or lunch counter use, it will beseen that this embodiment of my invention comprises inner and outerwalls spaced apart -to provide for a. free circulation of heated air,andrmeans for supporting bakery products in` a completely enclosedcompartment at a predetermined temperature.V For treating rolls, thetoaster may be omitted.

.ln this embodiment of my linvention toast or other bakedxfood maybe'treated or preserved inthe compartment 40 for many hours after it hasleft the toaster or baking oven without the condition of the foodchanging noticeably from that of freshly toasted or baked food. In thisembodiment the heat rising either from the heating element 38 or 38 orboth, passes upwardlyl around all of the side walls and incontact withthe top and bottom of the substantially tight drawer 40. This heated airalso comes in contact with the external walls 36 where (even thoughradiation is reduced by insulation) it becomes cooled and thereforepasses downwardly again to be relieated,

thus causing a continual circulation about all of the external surfacesof the compartment 40. On account of this construction once the drawerbecomes heated there is no radiation into .or out' of the drawer and theair within the drawer remains stationary and wholly ceases itscirculation.

It has been n found that with this construction the moisf ture contentof bakery goods or even diifer- I. lent parts of the same bakery goods,will'remain substantially unchanged for many hours. Parkerhouse rolls,graham gems,

"bran muffins, tea biscuits, butter rolls, and

wheat bread, may be kept in this compartment under a temperature of from120 to compartment 40 will not! reach the boiling 4point of water.

Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate a further alt-ernative embodiment of myinvention, this form thereof\being suitable .for use as a showcaseconstructed entirely, or provided with a door, of glass. The paralleland substantially vertical front and end walls of this embodiment `of myinvention may comprise outer glass. plates 58 and Iinner glass plates59, which may4 be secured together at their corners in any usual orpreferred way, similar glass plates 58', 59', correspondingly spacedapart, being optionally employed as a transparent top, thewall'elen'ients 58 being shown as supported in grooves 6() provided inrabbeted mop-board strips 6l, and the interior walls 59 being shown assupported from an inner floor 62, which may also be of glass,vthis floorbeing shown as in turn carried-by horizontal angle irons 63, adapted tosupport also an asbestos baille plate 64 above a heater 65. The heater65 may optionally be carried by a drawer 66 having a handle 67 and shownas slidable upon angle irons 68, spaced from an insulating bottom 69 byblocks 70; and access to the inner compartment 7l, in whichibakeryproducts are to be displayed, as by positioning the same upon glassshelves 72, shown as supported by arms 73 extending from uprights 74,may be obtained by means such as a sliding door comprising al1 outerplate 75 and an inner plate 76, spaced apart and secured together bymeans such as a strip 77 Pextending vertically therebetween, a handle 78being provided upon the outer plate, and the interval between the plates75 and 76 being substantially the same as that between the fixed plates58, 59, in contact with which electric heater 65, or itsequivalent, eingsuitably controlled, andthe heated air being free to rise between thedouble walls described, and escape of moisture being checked by thedescribed tight closure comprising a double-walled sliding door, it Willbe understood that this embodiment of my invention, like those abovedescribed, comprises means for maintaining bakery products at. apreferred elevated temperature, without permitting undue escape ofmoisture therefrom.

In general, I' consider it advantageous to embody heating means and athermostatic control in my preservers, in order to avoid danger of anundue elevation of temperature, it being obvious that the employment ofa temperature above 212 F., or the boiling point of water, must tend toan unduly rapid loss of water, that is to say, an unduly rapid drying ofbakery products. A temperature of substantially 2000 F. may he regardedas a maximum for the maintenance of freshness without unduly rapiddrying, but a higher,temperature may be tolerated when early sale or useof the products is contemplated. About 120O may be a suitable averagetemperature under lordinary conditions.

,The use of steam in preserving rolls and other bakery products has been'iound un-' satisfactory, but the use of electricity is especiallyadvantageous as avoiding expolsure to fumes or any external wetting, andalso as permitting easy and .reliable regulation of temperature; and itwill be understood that any device embodying my invention may be made aslarge and provided with as many separate compartments as may be suitableto its intended use, permitting the bakery products, or theirequivalent, to he spread out in a suitably thin layer.

In order to realize the full benefits and advantages of my invention, itis important that circulation of air within the reserving compartment beminimized. f course, when food is first put into a heated compartment,circulation of air is created by the fact that the foodis at a differenttemJ perature from the air in the compartment, but after the food hasbeen brought to the temperature of the air in the compartment, furthercirculation of air is substantially eliminated by the fact that all ofthe outside walls of the compartment are heated to the same, orsubstantially the same, temperature. In the embodiments hereindisclosed, in whlchone wally of a compartment is exposed t0 outsideradiation, circulation of air is produced to a limited extent and tosuch an extent the preserving characteristics of f thereof may beindependently employed;

additional 'modifications may readily be devised by those skilled inthis art, without the slightest departure from the spirit and scope ofmy invention, as the same is indicated above and in the followingclaims; and the principles of my invention will admit of the employmentof heat from' any convenient sources, -including bake ovensand. rangesheated by electricity or otherwise.

I claim as my invention:

l. A device for treating or preserving cooked food comprising a foodcompartment, external means for heatingal1 parts of said compartment t0equal temperature below the boiling point of water, and means toeffectively prevent heat radiation from any wall of said compartmentwhereby the circulation of air within the compartment is minimized.

2. A device for treating or preserving cooked food to restore it to ormaintain it in the same condition as when freshly cooked, comprising aneffectively sealed food compartment and means to heat andlto maintainall of the walls of said compartment heated to substantially the sametemperature, whereby internal circulation of air within the compartmentis minimized after the food has attained the same temperature as thecompartment.

3. A device for treating or preserving cooked food, comprising an outerenclosure, an effectively sealed inner food-receiving compartment,mea-ns to circulate a heated medium in contact with all of the outerwalls of said inner food-receiving compartment, whereby' all parts ofsaid compartment will be substantially equally heated.

4. The method of treating or preserving cooked food comprisingmaintaining the food for several hours at a temperature between 120o and200o F. in an equally heated substantially quiescent atmosphere,the'moisture content of which is such that the food will neither absorbnor give off substantial quantities of moisture.

In testimon whereof, Ipliave hereunto set my hand at os Angeles,California, this 31st day of March 1924. JOHN H. JOHNSON.

